Culdee Fell Railway
The Culdee Fell Railway is Sodor's only mountain railway. The railway's track gauge is 2ft 7 1⁄2in and it is 8 miles in length. Lord Harry Barrane is Chairman of the board, while Mr. Walter Richards acts as its current Manager. History Lord Peter Barrane was the landowner whose property would have been most severely affected by the scheme and he, while in favour of railways in general, was nevertheless reluctant to allow a railway to be built up his mountainside in view of possible disfigurement to its natural beauty. Thus it was that for some years the project hung fire. This gave the Skarloey Railway an opportunity which they were not slow to seize. They were in a position to provide easy access to a shorter route up the mountain, and saw to it that their Culdee Fell Excursions were widely advertised. These became very popular. Trains were met at Skarloey station by wagonettes which took excursionists to the point where the ancient path crossed the moorland road. The short climb proved most attractive, and the Skarloey Railway’s enterprise had a depressing effect on the people of Peel Godred and Kirk Machan who saw their tourist traffic dribbling away to the other side of the island. At length, however, their woeful complaints culminated in a deputation to Lord Peter with the request that he change his mind. Thus it was that in February 1897 the first sod of the Culdee Fell Rack Railway was cut by the Lady Elaine, Lord Peter’s eldest daughter, at Kirk Machan. The sponsors were The Culdee Fell Tramroad and Hotel Company Ltd. which had been formed a year before under Lord Peter‘s chairmanship. He was therefore in a position to ensure that the lower section of the line made a detour skirting the edges of his property instead of cutting straight through it and up the hillside as had originally been proposed. The Snowdon Mountain Railway had been opened shortly before this, and on their advice the “Abt” rack system was adopted. Construction too was greatly helped by the Snowdon Company’s expertise. It is not surprising therefore that the two railways are similar in many respects. The main difference is that while the Snowdon Railway’s climb is short and sharp (43/4 miles only), the Culdee Fell line is twice that length with easy gradients at the foot steepening finally to a fierce 1 in 5 on the last half mile to Summit Station. Construction proceeded smoothly,and the line was passed for passenger traffic in March 1900 by the Inspector from the Board of Trade, after rigorous tests both of operational methods and safety precautions. It was opened to the public on Whit Monday, and for just over a month all went well. Then, on a return journey No.1, Godred, left the rails at Devil’s Back and fell down a ravine. Happily the passengers kept calm and no one was injured; but the engine, when recovered next day, was found to be beyond local repair. Rebuilding at this stage was financially out of the question, so Godred’s remains were put at the back of Culdee Fell Railway Engine Sheds where, for the next few years, they provided a useful collection of spare parts for repairing the others. It was generally believed that a stone lodged between two teeth of the rack-rail had caused the accident, but this has never been proved. The line was closed for the rest of the summer while stringent measures were taken to eliminate the possibility of accident in the future. Re-opened on Easter Monday 1901, the Culdee Fell Railway has operated ever since with an unblemished safety record. There have, of course, been minor mishaps such as such as those involving No. 6 but these are rare, and though they cause annoyance and inconvenience have never resulted in injury to any passenger. Engines ]] Other Engines worked there Appearances Stories of Sodor * Prologue Category:Location Category:Railways Category:The Peel Godred Branch Line Category:CFR Category:Locations Category:Other railways Category:Businesses Category:Companies